Piano-playing mechanism and the like.



c. W. ATKINSON. PIANO PLAYING MECHANISMAAND THB LIKE.

APPLIOAATION FILED .TAN.14, 1910.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

/A/ VEA/foi? 0. w. ATKINSON, PIANO PLAYNG MEGHANISM AND THB LIKE.

APPLIOAIION FILED JAN. 14, 1910.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

WITNESESZ /A/vENTaR;.

vCLAUIDE WILLIAM ATKINSON, OF GREAT MISSENDEN, ENGLAND.

PIANO-PLAYING MECHANISM AND THE LIKE. l

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

Application filed January 14, 1910. Serial No. 538,010.

T all ill/hom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, .CLAUDE WILLIAM Ar- KINsoN, a subject of the King of Great i Britain and Ireland, residing at Great Missenden, in the county of Bucks, England,

have invented new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Piano-Playing Mechanism and the Like, of whiclrthe following is a specification. v

VThis invention relates to improvements in piano' playing mechanism and has for its objectmeans by which the operatorl can vary the strength'of the notes as awhole andcan accent a particular note at will.

In mechanical piano players as at present made the strength of the blo-ws sounding the notes is controlled lby regulating the rapidity with which air is withdrawn 'from ,the power pneumatics which operate the sound producing devices of the piano, or in other words by regulating the pressure which is causing-a flow of air from the powerl pneumatics. This control is effected by placing a valve system between the pipe leading to the vacuum chest from the source ofpower.

' The'dilliculty which is experienced with the present form of control valve' is that the amount lby which the valve has to be opened to obtain a certain strength of blow, depends on the number ot notes to be struck simultaneously. That is to say, the valve must be opened wider if a'chord is to be struck than if a single note is to be sounded. As a result it is only possible to utilize these control valves 'for 4emphasizing' notes or chords and the general ell"ect ot' Ioudness or softness must Abe obtained by varying the pressure of the vacuum or by means ot the pedaling and this makes it dillicult Yt'or instance to play loudly on the treble while the bass is subdued. v

Now according to my invention l employ tWo .Valves for the purposes of control, a Valve ot .the flap `t'orm or shutter lorm, which is 'only used tor :ufcenting notes or passages, which at the willof the operator is opened Wide or shut more or less completely, and a second valve which conf` lmatics will be instantly raised trolled by a spring, means being provided for varying the strength of"thislspring by the operator from the key board. These two Valves are placed on awall or division located in the passage leading from the source of power to the vacuum chest, and

vcompletely separating the two sides of this passage, to enable the difference of pressure between one side and the other to be varied at the will of the operator. i

The spring controlled valve will produce a definite difference of pressure from one side of it to the other when the controlling spring is adjusted to a definite amount, and Whether one note or a chord is sounded the difference of pressure is the same, the opening of the valve adjusting itself to the amount of air passing by it. This valve regulates the strength of the notes as a whole, and the springdcontrol of this valve may be so varied thatthe notes are only sounded softly while a considerable pressure is being maintained'by pedaling, and then the moment thev hand operated valve is opened the pressure on vthe power pneuand the note, chord, or passage accented.

In order that my invention. may be` the better understood I will now describe the same in relation to the accompanying draw-v ings, reference heilig had to the letters and figures marked thereon.

Like letters refer to like parts in the various l'igures.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of th controlling valves. Fig. 2 is a plan of same. Fig. il is diagrammatic representation of the regulatingl valve applied to piano player in which the power' pneumatics are surrounded by the atmosphere and their interior eonnectwl with exhaust when operated similar to the arrangement used in the well known lianola piano player..

A plate a separates the space of high pressure trom that of low pressure, the higher pressure being above the upper surlaee oi the plate in Fig. l. Upon this, plate is mounted a second plate l) having a facing. c ot' leather, felt or similar material and through this plate and facing, holes l and c arc cut tel allow air to pass from the higher to the lower pressure, that is in a downward direction through the plate. These holes are closed by valves and y'.

The valve of circular or other suitable form is supported on a stem g passing through a guiding hole in the plate b and is suspended from a spring i attached to the rod or string i which is led up to an operating lever n mounted on the control board o of the piano player.

New when the pressure on the top sidej of the plate a is higher than that on the lower side a pressure is exerted in a downward direction on the valve f tending to open the valve and this pressure is balanced by the spring 7L. lVhen the diderence in pressures between the two sides ot the plate @exceeds the pressure which just balances the tension on the spring the valve f will openand will allow air to pass from the top side ot the plate a to the bottom, and the source of pressure is then put in communication with the power pneumatics.

The -difference of pressure required to open the valve jf can be regulated by movement of the lever '1L on the cont-rol board Q of the piano player.

The amount by which the valve 7" opens depends on the number of power pneumatics in operation at any moment, that is on the amount of air which is required to pass by the valve to keep the difference in pressure between the upper and under surfaces equal to the tension on the spring. Thus whether a single note or a chord is being sounded the pressure on the power pneumatics is the same and the note or chord is sounded with an equal force. I use this valve for controlling tlie loudncss of the music as a whole or in controlling the accompaniment. For emphasizing single notes, chords or passages I use the valve y' and by suddenly opening this I can instantaneously decrease the difference 4 in pressure between the spaces above and below the plate (L and therefore increase the tension on the power pneumatic and I thus cause the notes then being operated to be sounded louder. In the drawing I have shown a shutter valve j mounted on a spindle attached to the plate and capable of being caused `to revolve about the spindle by means of a cord m wrapped around the stem or' the valve y' and attached to a lever y) on the control board o of the instrument.

The valve is returned to its closed positiona by the action of the spring m. By the coinbination of' these two valves I can eti'ectivcly control both the accompaninient and thc melody in a piece ot music.

Although I have shown a shutter valve j and a mushroom valve I do not limit myself to these forms of valves, and I may if I like use hinged tiap Valves orsliding valves of any of the usual forms.

The operation of my valves is as tollows :wIt a pressure equal to say three inches of water is required to strike a .sott or piano note, then I may set the spring FL on-my valve f so that the valve by moving the lever yn opens when there is a'diti'erencc of pressure between the upper and lower surfaces equalto three inches. I then pedal till the pressure in the vacuum reservoir is say six inches` The pressure on the pneumatics will then be three inches that is the diierence between the pressure in the reservoir and the ditterence of pressure between the two sides of the spring controlled valve, and this will be the case whatever number of notes is being sounded simultaneously. I can now emphasize or pick out any notes which I wish to do by opening the shutter valve at the moment the perforations in It-he music sheet corresponding to the nete to be emphasized is approaching the hole in the tracker board. If I open the shutter valve wide there will be no appreciabledifference of pressure in passing by this valve and the pressure on the power pneumatics will be instantaneously raised to six inches, and I may obtain any intermediate pressure between the three inches which is given by the springV controlled valve and the full six inches by opening the shutter valve by a suitable amount. Similar results can be obtained by the adjustment of the. spring on the spring controlled valve to any other pressure. It will be seen that these results cannot be obtained by the use ot' pneumatically controlled regulating valves since their action depends on the pressure in the vacuum reservoir, instead ot being independent of it as is the :asc in my invention. It will be understood that. I may use more than one such combinations of valves to control independent sections` of notes.

lla ving now particularly described my invention. what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

In piano playing mechanism an air control dcvice for regulating the strength of a .series ot notes and accenting a particular note o'r notes at' will consisting or' in combination a wall or division disposed in the passage between the vacuum chest and the source of power, an orifice in said Vall or division. a valve seat around said orifice, an automatic control valve yon said seat located on the side of the said wall or division adjacent to the source of power. said automatic valve heilig nxovable toward and from its seat, a spring connected to said valve, hand operated means on the control board of the piano playing mechanism connected to said spring, a second orilicc in said wall or division, a second valve coacting with said ori-V fice, operating means for working said valve, name to this speccaton in the'presence of :1 second hand operated means on the controltwo subscrlbmg Wltnesses.

board of the piano playimT mechanism and connecting means from sd second hand CLAUDE WILLIAM ATKINSON' 5 loperated means to said second valve, sub- Witnesses:

l CI-IAs. R. BULLOUGH,

stantial1yas described. v

In testlmony whereof I have signed my FREDK. L. RAND. 

